


A Merry Christmas (And a first official kiss)

by TheArcReactor (LazarusII)



Series: Marvel One-Shots [6]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers Family, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Morning, Christmas Party, Christmas Presents, Christmas Tree, Family, First Kiss, Fluff, Happy Avengers, Joyful, Laughter, M/M, Mischief, Mistletoe, Post-Avengers (2012), Secret Crush, Surprise Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 09:17:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13143621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazarusII/pseuds/TheArcReactor
Summary: Mistletoe, a kiss, and a Christmas to remember.





	A Merry Christmas (And a first official kiss)

**Author's Note:**

> Technically a sequel to [Paintings and Small Gifts](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10846857) but both works are one-shots and you can read them in whatever order you'd like to.

Christmas morning dawned with a blinding wash of white snow. Traffic all over New York had ceased, unable to continue their travels in the great storm that overtook them. Cars that had been speeding down the black tarmac had been reduced to the slowest of speeds, inching forwards across deep swaths of white powder as they struggled to find the nearest shelter. The snowplows marked the only movement in the streets, roaring down the straightaways and pushing large amounts of snow streaming to the sides. Lines of determined, slower-moving cars pursued vehicles of such power, following them closely like chicks behind their mother duckling. 

In every corner of New York, though snowbound, displayed the Christmas spirit in full. Lights hung from street lamps, floats sat in front yards, and wreaths hung in doorways. Instead of braving the ice-covered roads, people walked in the streets, exchanging nods and blessings such as "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays to you". The atmosphere, in whole, was one of peace, Christmas being one of the few times that it ever felt in such a way. 

Inside Avenger's Tower, the Christmas spirit was in full swing. Per request of Thor, the Avengers had decided to go all out on the festivities. Lights sparkled on -what felt like- every square inch of the place, twinkling twenty-four hours per day. Natasha had grumbled that they should just decorate Stark Tower as one giant Christmas tree. Sarcastically, Tony had offered to go out and hire a painting crew, but Steve had shot down the idea almost immediately, arguing that it was going too far. 

It had not been until a week before Christmas that the presents had started flooding in. Tony had invited Rhodey and Pepper to come but, unfortunately, Rhodey was the only one available. Pepper had sent her love and presents with the Colonel. So on the long-awaited morning, the party at the tower included: Clint, Natasha, Steve, Thor, Bruce, Rhodey, and Tony (himself). Despite there being only seven of them, the Christmas tree was soon buried with a heap of presents. The tree was located in the center of the penthouse living room. It had been flown in by Natasha and Thor from god-knows-where and had nearly taken out the front door when bringing it in. In the brilliant planning of the Avenger's Asgardian member, the tree had been shoved half-way through the doorway before getting stuck in the glass paneling and tech near the door. Tony didn't know where the pair had found the thirty-foot tree that  _looked_ like a pine tree (but clearly was a different species) and he didn't want to. 

There was excitement in the air as the Avengers sat down at breakfast. After all, it was their first Christmas together. Tony sat down at the large dining table and looked around. He noticed that Natasha and Steve were still absent. Eggs, bacon, toast, and many other breakfast items were laid out on the table and yet no one was eating. Finding it suspicious, Tony looked around warily. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he reached for a piece of toast. 

Where was Steve? He was supposed to be here already... always the early bird and the one on time. 

A twinge of doubt wormed its way into Tony's stomach, even though he told himself he was being stupid. He was overreacting, just jittery. Steve couldn't be gone, he  _had_ to be there. 

For the last few months, Tony had been slowly falling for the super-soldier. And so far, it had been a one-sided ordeal. At first, there had been some hope for Steve returning the love, for a small painting had arrived at his doorstep with the words "from your secret admirer" attached to it. Easily pinning down the sender, Tony had sent back a note and gift. For some time, he'd hoped there would be some change in behavior, something to tell his aching heart that Steve really meant it, that he would make things closer... 

Yeah, that hadn't gone the way he thought. Did anything ever?

Months had gone by and still nothing had changed. Every morning, there was coffee, a scattered breakfast, then work. Mission after mission of just...  _normal_ things.  _Normal_ relationships, _normal_ teamwork, _normal_ Steve. Tony was sick and tired of _normal_. He was an impatient person, anyone could figure it out. Why couldn't Steve? Or maybe the painting was a prank? Had Tony taken it in the wrong way? There was always Steve and Natasha to take into account as well. They were close, both soldiers in their own way, both holding those strict rules that guided their actions and words. Just... they had so much in common and what did Tony have? He had his father: an abusive man who basically abandoned Tony, who also happened to have been Steve's best friend. Besides that, Tony had close to nothing. 

So much to think about, so much overreacting, so much drama....and just in Tony's head. 

Finally, it was Christmas day. Tony had battled it out for weeks and finally decided to do something. He could no longer hide how he felt. Whether Steve and Natasha were a thing -and he did think they were- or not, he did not care... well he did care... but not really care... 

It was confusing and very difficult to explain. 

The point was that Tony had prepared to tell Steve exactly how he felt about him and the man wasn't even there. 

"Hey Bruce," Tony asked, the toast still held in hand, "have you seen Cap this morning?"

Bruce, who was slowly plowing his way through a bowl of oatmeal, nodded, his mouth full. The doctor was dressed in a baggy white T-shirt and checkered pajama pants, looking small in comparison to Thor who sat next to him. Swallowing, Bruce nodded towards the door. 

"He left early this morning with Nat. He was dressed pretty nicely. So was Nat. He said that he'd be back soon."

Tony felt his heart sink. 

_Of course._

 

"You alright?" Bruce asked quietly.

Tony nodded and stuffed the toast in his mouth to avoid further questions. 

 

For the next hour or so, Tony camped on the couch with his tablet and worked out new designs for a new penthouse. It used to be an old storage unit for Stark industries, but he had an idea for a possible -and far more covert- base of operations. Each Avenger would have their own room, there would be more space for a shop, a new landing pad, and a medical facility to rival the tower's.

Even though his hands were busy with the keypad and his eyes were flying between controls, blueprints, and other key notes, his mind was elsewhere. 

_Steve._

The man was still absent and Thor was beginning to grow impatient. He wanted to open the presents. Bruce had finally managed to coax him into a game of chess... but as one could imagine, chess against an Asgardian with a short temper was quite the ordeal. Every so often, a chess piece would fly past Tony and skitter across the floor, to rest beneath whichever piece of furniture was most inconvenient to search beneath. Bruce's audible sighs would echo throughout the room each time. If Tony weren't so uptight at the moment, he would have laughed. 

After the third or fourth time chess pieces went flying, a silence fell. Of course, Tony did not notice. He was far too preoccupied with his "work" on the tablet. 

Did Steve really like Natasha? What was he doing? How could he tell the way that he felt? What was going on? Why was he feeling this? What-why-where-how-

He pictured Steve walking down the busy -not to mention snowy- streets of New York, Natasha by his side. Jealousy curled in Tony's stomach. He'd have done anything to just have minutes of quality time with the super-soldier. But that didn't matter, he was going to tell Steve how he felt.

It would ruin everything.

And he knew it. 

But he had to say something. 

 

Who knew that an Asgardian could be so quiet. Tony certainly didn't. All he knew was that his world went back. Something soft was pressing itself against his face, blocking all light from view. 

"What?" He yelped, reaching for his face.

"Do not!" Came Thor's voice. A strong hand swatted Tony's away.

Sighing, Tony was to mentally weary to fight him. It would probably be some stupid game like pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, or bobbing apples... wait, wasn't that a Halloween game? Resignedly, Tony let himself be pulled to his feet and guided away from the couch. The tablet clattered to the floor. Tony hissed. The device had better not be broken. 

Five steps -no, ten steps- later, Tony was pulled to a stop. Hands reached out and spun him around. Round and round he went until he finally reached out, a smile playing at his lips. 

"What the hell?" He choked, half wanting to laugh, half irritated, "you trying to make me puke on you? Because that sounds like a  _great_ plan!"

Fingers made their way across Tony's face, caressing it. They were not soft hands, but callused and rougher, yet gentle. 

Tony could feel his face blushing. 

_No_

_No_

_No_

 

 

Lips brushed his. He could smell mint. Whoever it was had just brushed their teeth. 

 

_This can't be happening!_

_No_

_No_

_No_

 

Then the person was kissing him. Tony recoiled in shock just as someone roughly yanked off the blindfold. 

Natasha was next to him, directly on his right, smirking. A fishing rod was held in her hands, hanging something above Tony's head. It was mistletoe. Everyone was crowded around him and... and...

 

 

Steve was kissing him, full on kissing him.

 

Tony's mind exploded. Without even realizing it, he found himself kissing back. 

 

_Yes_

_Yes_

_Yes_

 

Finally, Steve pulled away from Tony. His face seemed to glow with a radiant, and yet shy, smile. 

 

"Merry Christmas, Tony."

 

 

 

Tony said the only smart thing he could think of.

 

"Uhhh..."

 

 

 

And all the while, his heart soared. 

 

 

 

_"Merry Christmas, Tony"_

 

 

 


End file.
